"The entire concept behind my project is to fight the wackness that rap has become... There are enough people trying to be gangsters without me going that route... What we need in hip-hop right now are rappers who are both truthful and entertaining."

First, when I realized that it was something that I was talented at. Secondly, it was something that I could use to help shape and change the world through a song like “Jesus Walks.” Thirdly, and this is even more recently, when I realized that there’s no balance in hip-hop – there’s no balance on the radio. At those points, I knew that I was chosen, not because of wanting to make some money or to get some girls.

Clive Davis took a chance on Rhymefest when nobody else would. What, am I not hip-hop? I am the essence of balance in hip-hop. I’m one of the last of my kind.

"This is stuff that happens in the streets and that's why I named my album 'Blue Collar,' because I feel like it's the hustle. The grind is a hustle. Like, if you go down to the Southside of Chicago, where I'm from you might not see six brothers out there slinging dope, you might see five people on the bus stop going to work, but ain't nobody talking about that."